Occupy Wall Street - My Two Cents

I'm reporting to you live from home. Not from Zuccotti Park or Washington Square Park or a holding cell. I haven't been down to the protest site. Me, Miss Rebel Rouser. I most certainly have reason to. I am part of the 99%. Don't have a job to call out from to join Occupy Wall Street (one of the reasons I'm in the 99%). Yet, the protest, the movement, doesn't feel organic. Would I be more inclined to participate if there was tear gas involved? If I had the opportunity to hold hands with Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson? If they were burning effigies? For a protest, there seems to be a lot of rules and regulations and scheduling. Are they simply trying to bait the NYPD into committing brutality?


When they said Occupy Wall Street, that's what I thought they'd do. Block entrances to buildings, camp out in the lobby of 60 Pine Street, clog the Wall Street subway stations. Granted, many of the workers on Wall Street can work from home but maneuvers like that would make the "corporate bigwigs" think twice about coming to work. The protesters are in a park providing walking lanes for commuters. I've read their "list of demands"; there's that tiny sliver of haves that need to realize that the have-nots are pissed. We need to go Robin Hood on them. As result, I haven't ventured to Occupy Wall Street. I've viewed some photos online. Barely sat through 30 seconds of coverage on livestream.


I guess I expected more of this:

Instead of this:

Photo Credit: Ijeoma D. Iheanacho

Those are my current feelings. They are subject to change.

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Faces Of The Economy

Faces of the Economy Opening Reception

I've been doing the artist hustle and the freelance shuffle for the past 2 years. I've accomplished a lot since I was laid off in January of 2009. But assignments weren't coming as quickly and the sale of my art wasn't as brisk as before.


A friend and I shared our pathetic financial situations recently over IM. I sat at my computer and laughed till my eyes watered. It was one of those situations where you either laugh or you go insane.


I am a face of the economy.


April 15, 2011, at Art for Change Gallery, the group exhibit, Faces of the Economy opened. It is a great collective of social art commenting on the recession, unemployment, budget cuts, foreclosures, Wall Street. Many more Americans are affected by the recession than the media reports. I'm sure anyone reading this knows someone who has been laid off, is underemployed, behind on rent, on public assistance or considering it...


I marked April 15th on the calendar, and not for tax purposes.

Random Rant On My Job Hunt

I haven't shared any stories of my time being unemployed or on the job hunt because there hasn't been much happening. CVs and resumes sent. Nothing in response. Moments of "this job would be perfect for me!" followed by nothing. Meh. I did get a call back from a physical therapy clinic informing me I was overqualified. I was underwhelmed. Is underemployment the only option?

In January, I was contacted by reps from Infinity Consulting Solutions, Inc and Axion LLC, respectively. Anyone have any experience with them? They found my resume online and had positions for me. They called and emailed to set up interviews. My resume was even included in one of the emails they sent with particular skills and phrases highlighted, so it was apparent that they had indeed found and reviewed my resume. I returned the calls and the emails, more than once. No response.